A Texas TV report sparked a rumor on the gunternets that Colt (or a division thereof) was moving to Texas.
Well... sort of. Only not. Not really. At least not yet. It's complicated.
Colt Competition is a Type 07 manufacturer of boutique AR-pattern race guns (currently) based out of Orygun; they were one of the sponsors of last year's Crimson Trace Midnight 3 Gun Match. They license the Colt name and logo from Colt's Manufacturing in Connecticut, but are not actually part of the company.
Will Colt's Manufacturing depart the Nutmeg State, its home since 1836? Maybe, but this isn't any kind of harbinger of the move.
.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
The General over at Colt'suswears it's going to happen. Plus, certain other folks in the CT firearms industry will be chatting with Gov. Perry this week and next. Beyond that, I'm sworn to silence if I want to stay employed in the gun business.
Bottom line, after the feeding frenzy of the next few months, the market will be glutted, and anybody wanting to avoid the inevitable boycott of CT made weapons will have to move at least their assembly department to a gun friendly state. Boycotts are a lot easier when pickings are slim for the manufacturers.
Remember S & W back in the '90's? S & W Holding bought the company from the Clinton-loving Brits for fourteen cents on the dollar and told the White House to pound sand, the only reason the place didn't go the way of High Standard.
Betting bigtime on an anti-Connecticut sentiment among American buyers, it's only a matter of time before the big boys in North Haven decide to boogey too. Any bets?
Colt announced a plant near Kissimmee, FL in 2011.
I haven't kept up with - they should be in production by now. My bookmarks for the story have all expired, but the PR at time said,"Colt’s Manufacturing Company is pleased to announce that the company will continue its progressive momentum by opening a new facility in Kissimmee, Florida. The new 16,000 square foot facility will allow Colt’s Manufacturing Company to expand into new markets and business lines in parallel with the company’s existing 100,000 square foot facility in Connecticut. Specific information on facility renovations and employee requirements will be determined over the course of the next several months"
SiGraybeard @ work
SiGreybeard,
Yup, that's consistent with what I know. The TX TV station conflating the little race gun shop with Colt's has turned this into the "zomg Colt's not selling guns to civilians anymore!!eleventy!" rumor for the new decade...
My guess? We'll see a slow, gradual migration. As Ed points out, the 24/7 in gun manufacturing is, as we speak, ending (last week's local fun show had ARs everywhere, at nearly-reasonable prices; ammo, not so much on pricing, but availability was way up, and prices will follow. Give it 30-60 days on guns, 90-150 days on ammo).
A number of mfgs have a presence in Free America, there's enough empty mfg space there to be enticing, and a gradual transition is easier to manage than an overnight uprooting.
Contracts have to be fulfilled (see: Remington, M4, etc.) but a gradual move offers an opportunity to procure state-of-the-art equipment in a new location and bring new personnel talent, of which there is no shortage, into the organization and ramp up production.
Prediction: 2-5 years for most production to move to Free America, but that doesn't mean all production, or non-production presence, will move.
Ed, I remember the "S&W must die" stuff from rec.guns back then.
I was a boycotter myself (but didn't sell any currently held) until the Brits sold them.
When the new owners told .gov to get bent I considered the entity dead and reborn.
Other rec.gunners (moderator Magnum among them) don't see it the same way.
There are still plenty of folks who hate Ruger for Bill Senior's role in the mag ban of 1994.
I have some recollection of Colt getting a black eye in the late 90's for toying with ending civilian sales of the AR-15 but I guess that's all forgiven now.
Alien,
That's beside the point.
What this is is shitty reporting sparking a rumor. To riff off of the way Caleb put it elsewhere, this would be like announcing Smith Family Enterprises, d/b/a "McDonald's #2517" going out of business as "McDonalds Goes Out Of Business!"
OMG!!! McDonald's is going out of business?!?!?!!? My kids are going to be pissed.
s
I'm just (very mildly) annoyed that they're not moving the factory to not-nearly-as-bad-as-CT Oregon.
I mean, since the company's already based here at the management level, it'd be kinda nice.
I'm pretty sure Medford could use the jobs, for instance...
Sigivald,
Colt's Mfg.is based in CT, management and all...
FOR FUCK'S SAKE, CBS DALLAS! See how y'all's shitty reporting gets rumors started?
It is a probably just a matter of time before the real Colt moves to FL. It's been less then a week since we got screwed here in CT, it's unrealistic to expect the gun companies to state publicly what their plans so soon.
One company has just stated that they will be leaving CT and plan to be gone by the end of the year
http://ptr91.com/news/ptr-to-move-from-connecticut/
Colt hasn't made any money selling its products in it's home state in practically forever anyway though. There were maybe two CT legal Colt ARs and one of them was a Colt Competition from Oregon. I had the impression the Hartford factory mostly cranks out government contracts, and the two guys in the basement somewhere who put an awesome high polish finish on my Delta Elite are kind of incidental and also nearing retirement.
I like how OP calls Oregon 'fascistic' when Oregon has better gun laws than Texas.
Unknown: I moved from Oregon to Wyoming to get away from the fascists.
Oregon's gun laws are a relic of the days when Oregon was a Republican-majority state.
The caltards that have overrun the place simply don't have the two thirds majority needed to undo them yet.
I don't know, a surprising number of Portland-area liberals that I've met are either gun owners or are at least thinking about it. Anecdotal, yeah, but outside of Portland and Salem it's pretty much a red state. Not to mention Californians are a disease that will spread to Wyoming eventually too.
@Ed Foster:
would the union that owns a piece of Colt allow them the relocate? And, would they have to take the union with them?
Post a Comment